Perception and Problems of Pregnant Women (A Sociological Study of Batulechaur-16,Pokhara)

Abstract

This study “Perception and Problems of Pregnant Women” is a sociological study of pregnant women of Batulechaur-16 of Pokhara. It is an exploratory as well as descriptive study which was conducted to fulfill the partial requirement for the Masters’ degree in sociology. The study was conducted on 21 pregnant women of Batulechaur-16 of Pokhara. Since the total number of pregnant women in the area couldn’t be found exactly, the sample for the study was selected by using snowball sampling technique. For the in-depth study, case studies were taken from these 21 respondents which were analyzed qualitatively by using the content of the cases studies. By using the theory of Marxism, patriarchy, feminism and self perception the study tried to find the problems and perceptions of the pregnant women. Only the qualitative techniques were used to analyze the data but in some region, pie-chart, histogram and figures are constructed as required. The majority of the respondents were from Brahmin-Chhetri which covers 52.4 percentages of the respondents where all of them are from Hindu religion. 42.86 percentages of the respondents were married with the age-difference of 1-5 years with their husbands where 28.57 each with the 5-10 and more than 10 years of age-difference with their husbands. As the study concluded there are some perceptions of the pregnant women that are found in this study. They are: perceptions towards husband, perceptions towards family, perceptions towards society and perceptions towards self. The problems of the pregnant women found in this study are categorized as: problems in the family, problems related to the society and professional problems. In perceptions towards husbands there are some perceptions of pregnant women like; physical presence of husband is important, care and support, economic support, cultural perceptions (Agedifference in marriage, priority to son, and decision making role in the family). In

perceptions towards family it was concluded two types of perceptions namely;

perceptions in nuclear and in joint family. Likewise in perceptions towards society:

behavior from neighbors, difficult to adjust in the environment and bound to norms

and values are the perceptions of pregnant women. And at last the women also had perceptions towards self. Although the Marxism, theory of Patriarchy and feminism explain the exploitation of male over female but this study conclude that they are not only dominated by male but by female also. In some cases, they were not only dominated in economic field but also to the social as well as cultural aspects. It is also concluded that the pregnancy is not only considered as the tiresome and barbaric but is considered as gift and pleasure for the women as well as family and society.